Germany’s ‘Brave Journalism’ award goes to Turkey’s Ahmet Şık

The Brave Journalism award has been bestowed on prominent Turkish journalist and Cumhuriyet daily reporter Ahmet Şık, who was arrested last December on charges of disseminating terrorist propaganda in Turkey, according to the Bianet news portal.

Şık’s wife, Yonca Şık, is expected to receive the award at the International Frankfurt Book Fair that open this week with a ceremony with the participation of President of Honored Guest France Emanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Şık was arrested by a court on Dec. 30, 2016 on charges of disseminating terrorist propaganda for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) and the Gülen movement.

According to the state-run Anadolu news agency, Şık was arrested for his interview with a PKK leader, Cemil Bayık, and his columns questioning controversial National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks that were allegedly carrying weapons to illegal groups in Syria.

It subsequently emerged that a remark by Şık at a European Parliament event in September 2014 was included in the investigation.

Şık had reportedly said that those who work for the PKK are also journalists.

Şık has been openly critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) as well as the Gülen movement.